Thread: Anathem

I'm reading this right now. It's long, so having patience with a couple of hundred pages of back-story and dense writing really pays off. What does everyone think of this book (no spoilers, please; I'm only half way through)?

As good as Dune.

I enjoyed it thoroughly, but it's probably my least favorite of Stephenson's post SNOW CRASH work. My favorite will probably always be the moving, magnificent The Diamond Age. Oddly, I'd compare The Baroque Cycle more closely to Dune, 'sage, so far as being an example of world-building that convinces by pure weight of overwhelming detail!

Originally Posted by Leyline

My favorite will probably always be the moving, magnificent The Diamond Age.

Same here, what a great book.

Anathem is probably my second favourite, though. Nothing against Cryptonomicon or The Baroque Cycle, but Anathem was more my thing.

I guess the tragedy here is that we're all 4.5 months too late for gagoots.

Originally Posted by mwd

Same here, what a great book.

The scene where the Primer carefully yet brutally instructs Nell on how to stop her mother's latest abusive boyfriend is actually one of the single most effective things I've ever read. It's dark, and scary, but also blackly humorous, and thrilling. And the arrival of the Mouse Army to protect their mistress always makes me laugh and cry at the same time.

But the whole thing is great. It's like a book from an alternate universe where Charles Dickens wrote SF and worked for Campbell. Ha.